Strand handling apparatus



Aug- 11 A1936- Y. A. BOUGET STRAND HANDLING APPARATUS FIG. l.

INVENTOR K A. BOI/GET ATTORNEY Aug. 11, 1936. Y. A. BOUGET 2,050,243

STRAND HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 9, 1934 l 2 SheelS--Sheel'I 2 llll IIIIHIHI INVENT'OR Y. A. BOUGET we mwem YArroR/v/fy Patented Aug. 11, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE STRAND HANDLING APPARATUS Application February 9, 1934, Serial No. 710,426 Y Y 13 Claims.

This invention relates to strand handling apparatus and more particularly to a serving head for winding a strand on a core.

An object of the present invention is to provide a serving head for Winding machines, of simple and rugged construction and having a symmetrical and balanced arrangement of few and light weight parts which enables a great speed of operation.

With this and other objects in View the invention contemplates a serving head comprising a supply spool of peculiar construction which permits the strand to be served on a core advancing longitudinally through the hollow axis of the revolving spool, the strand to be served being drawn from the inside of the supply wound on the spool. The barrel of the spool consists of a plurality of long slender rollers whose ends are confined with freedom to rotate in slantingly radial guide slots in the heads of the spool, so that as the supply of strand diminishes from within outwardly the rollers are forced out by centrifugal force and so tend to keep the strand under continuous and constant tension.

Other objects and characteristic features of the invention will appear from the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which the same reference numerals are applied to identical parts in the several figures and in which Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic broken view in vertical central section of a winding machine having a serving head embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional View on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, and l Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 cf apparatus for relling an empty spool.

In the embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, a winding machine has a main frame 29 of a generally U-shaped or cylindrical form having a support bracket or horizontal member 45 2l perforated as shown in Fig. 1. A spool housing 22 generally cylindrical in form, open at the top and having a centrally perforated floor is located within the frame, and a winding member or tube 23 is positioned coaxially within the hous- 50 ing 22 and frame 29 passing through the perforations in the floorr of the frame and in the bracket 2l.

A driving gear 24 is rigidly mounted on the tube 23 and is supported on the bracket on an 55 interposed anti-friction bearing 25 thus supporting the tube. The housing 22 rests on and is rigidly secured to the gear 24. The gear 24 meshes with a gear 5| rigidly mounted on a shaft 52 driven by a source of power not shown.

Within the housing 22 is a supply spool com- 5 prising a lower head 29, an upper head 30 and interposed rod like members 3| here shown as six in number which `preferably but not necessarily act as rollers. The upper head 30 is a substantially circular disc of diameter equal to the ex- 10 ternal diameter of the housing 22 upon the top rim of which the disc rests. The head is provided with one or more peripheral notches 32 corresponding to an equal number of lugs 33 extending up from the top rim of the housing. 'Ihese 15 lugsV and notches coact to position the disc definitely on the housing and to compel the disc and housing to rotate together. The disc 30 is also provided with a number of slots 34 each situated at the same angle A to the radius 20 through its inner end.

The lowervhead 29 is likewise a circular disc dimensioned to nt easily within the housing 22 and rests on a peripheral shoulder or ledge 35 around the floor of the housing. The ledge is 25 formed with upstanding lugs 36 and the head with corresponding coacting notches 3l to position the head within the housing and to compel them to rotate together. The head is further formed with slots identical in form, number and 30 relative position to the slots 34 of the upper head. The lugs 3B and 33 are so disposed that when the heads are in place as in Fig. 1, each slot 34 in the head 39 is directly over and aligned with a corresponding slot in the head 29. In 35 each such pair of corresponding slots are confined the reduced ends of one member 3l snugly enough to prevent excessive play but with freedom to slide and preferably also to rotate in the slots. 'I'he members or rollers are longitudinally 40 confined between the heads by the peripheral shoulders formed by reducing the ends of the rollers, which also serve to maintain the heads spaced apart when the spool is removed from the housing.

A removable strand supporting casing 26 having the form of an open ended cylinder is positioned to float between anti-friction bearings 21 and 28 interposed between the casing 26 and the spool heads 29 and 39. A supply of serving strand 50 49 is wound in a toroidal mass on the group of rollers- 3l as a core and is externally supported against centrifugal expansion by the casing 26. The upper and lower ends of the mass of strand do not extend to the spool heads 29 and 30. 55

to keep the member 4l in position. An anti-- friction bearing 43 is interposed between the upper surface of the cover 38 and the lower surfaceY of the member 4 I A fiat disc-like locking member 45 is threadedly mounted on the externally threaded upper end of the tubev 23 and an antifriction bearing 44 is interposed between the lower face of the locking member an-d the upper face of the supporting member 4|.

About midway of the spool the tube 23 is provided with an appropriately shaped radial slot 46 in which a grooved guide sheave 41 is rotatably mounted on a tangentiallyV directed pin 48 to gui-de the strand 48 drawn from the interior of the supply thereof wound on the rollers 3l. to a core 50 advancing upwardly through the tube.

Assuming now that the arrangement is` that of Fig. l, and that the spool is lled with strand 49'to be wound on the core 50. The core is advanced upwardly through the tube 23 from a supply which is not shown by means whchis not shown as such supply and advancing means are well known and their construction and nature are not relevant here.A At the same time power is applied to the shaft 28 to rotate the tube counter-clockwise as seen from above. The guide sheave 41 being carried aroundthe core by the rotation. of the tube Wraps or winds the strand 49' on the advancing coreA at anl angle.l depending onrthe longitudinal velocity ofthe coreas related to the rotational speed of thetube. A

Thus the sheave drawsA the strand from the inner surface of the supply thereof on the spool, the strand passing around and in contact with the group of rollers 3l. one or more times and nally over the roller nearest the-guide sheave 41 to the sheave.y This drawing. off of the strand exerts a tangential pull on the'inner cylindrical surface of the mass of strand on the spool which sets the casingvZG and its contents-in rotationv the casing being rotatably free between thebearings 21` and 28; The direction of this rotation of the mass will depend on the direction in which theA strand is wound onthe spool ascompared with the direction of rotation of4 the tube carrying the sheave and on therelation between theV longitudinal' speed at which thestrand is being taken ofi the spool and the-speed of the guide sheave-in its revolution around the core.

Generally it is preferable to have the strand unwind from the mass in the direction in which the slfieave` revolves-asthen the unwinding effect is opposed to the direct drag of the sheave on the mass and the resulting velocityofthe mass is less than if the strand be wound on the spool in the contrary direction.

Since the ends ofthe rollers3l are free in the slots 34, as the interior substantially cylindrical surface of the mass of strand supply expands with the removal of strand therefrom, the rollers under the centrifugal-force developed by the rotation-of the spool will move out in the slots keeping continually incontact with the retreating face of the wound strand and so? affording continuoussupport thereto.` 'I'he mass of strand slides over the rollers 3l as the strand is drawn to the sheave thus rotating each of the rollers on its axis. The rotation of the rollers is resisted more or less by the friction of the body of the roller on the mass of wound strand and also by the friction of the roller ends in the slots 34. The amount of this latter friction varies with the angle A and may be modied by altering this angle to meet the requirements of an individual case. This determinably variable resistance of the roller to rotating imposes a corresponding determinably variable normally constant longitudinal tension on the strand 49 as it is wound on the core, aY condition essential to satisfactory serving.

When the spool is empty, the apparatus is stopped and the core cut and drawn out of the top of the tube. Elements 45, 44, 4I, 43 and 38 are then successively removed, leaving the spool free for removal also. The spool may then be lifted out as by means of a pair of still, hook ended wires or rods passed down through the slots in both spool heads and hooked under the lowerihead'. One of the spool heads is then removed, the casing 26 is removed, and the head put back. The empty spool is then positioned on the apparatus shown in Fig. 3 to be refilled.

Thisapparatus comprises a shaft 53 journalled in a support 54 and driven from a source of power not shown by gears 55 and 56. A driving dog 51 having two arms preferably is rigidly mounted'on the shaft and so proportioned that the ends of its arms will enter the notches 31 of the spool head 29 to drive the head. A second two armed driving dog 58 is removably keyed on the shaft 53 in position to coact with the notches 32 in the spool head 3! and to maintain the notches 32 in accurate alignment with the notches 31. One of a pair of identically similar grooved collars 59 is positioned on the shaft 53 between the head 29 and the dog 51, the other collar being similarly located between the head Stand the dogil. In the face of each collar toward the corresponding spool head is a concentric groove 5E) to receive the ends of the rollers 3l; The radially interior side of each of the grooves is conical and is so proportioned as to force the rollers 3l a short distance outwardly in the slots 34, while the radially outer sides of the grooves-keep the rollers stationary in this location so that the group of rollers is thus slightly expanded and rigidly held. A locking nut 6l threaded on the shaft 53 locks the entire assembly thus described together.

The spool is then driven by rotating the shaft z 53 and a supply of strand 49 is wound thereon as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3, care being taken to so distribute the strand in the winding that the mass formedv does not touch the spool heads 29 and 3D. The winding is continued until the outer diameter of the mass 49 is equal to the inner diameter of the casing 2G. The winding is thenstopped, the nut 6l, dog 58, collar 59 and head 32 removed. Thecasing 26 is then slipped into place over the mass 49 and the head 32 replaced.,

The lled spool may now be removed with its contents and replaced in the housing 22 for further serving of the core 5B. The rollers 3l having been held slightly out from-the inner ends of the slots 34V during the lling by the collars 59, are now free to move to the inner ends of the slots leaving the mass of strand free to slide over them.

Since allthe parts of the serving head are radially symmetrical or symmetrically balanced, except the sheave 41 which is insignificant in mass, and since all the parts have relatively small radii of, gyration in operation, the apparatus can be run at unusually high speeds without developing troublesome or dangerous centrifugal stresses.

The embodiment of the invention herein disclosed is merely illustrative and may be modified in many ways and departed from without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as pointed out in and limited solely by the appended claims. In particular it may be noted that there may be provided a permanent barrel inside of and concentric to the members 3l, permanently or detachably secured to one of the heads, and detachably secured to the other head if desired. Such element has been omitted in thedisclosure herein in order to display the characteristic features of the invention. in as simple and clear a manner as possible. Such barrel would be provided with an aperture for radial alignment with the guide sheave 41.

What is claimed is:

1. In a strand handling apparatus, a spool comprising a pair of. heads, a barrel consisting of a plurality of members interposed between the heads and supported therein with freedom to move toward the circumference thereof, and a casing interposed between the heads and supported thereby with freedom to rotate relatively thereto.

2. In a strand handling apparatus, a spool comprising a pair of heads, a barrel consisting of a plurality of rollers interposed between the heads and supported therein with freedom to move toward the circumference thereof, and a casing interposed between the heads and supported thereby with freedom to rotate relatively thereto.

3. In a strand handling apparatus, a serving head having a rotatable housing, means to drive the housing, and a spool removably mounted in the housing and comprising a pair of heads and a barrel consisting of a plurality of members interposed between the heads and supported therein with freedom to move toward the circumferences thereof.

4. In a strand handling apparatus, a serving head having a rotatable housing, means to drive the housing, and a spool removably mounted in the housing and comprising a pair of heads, a barrel consisting of a plurality of members interposed between the heads and supported therein with freedom to move toward the circumference thereof., and a casing interposed between the heads and supported thereby with freedom to rotate relatively thereto.

5. In a strand handling apparatus, a serving head having a rotatable housing, means to drive the housing, and a spool removably mounted in the housing and comprising a pair of heads and a barrel consisting of a plurality of rollers interposed between the heads and supported therein with freedom to move toward the circumferences thereof.

6. In a strand handling apparatus, a serving head having a rotatable housing, means to drive the housing, and a spool removably mounted in the housing and comprising a pair of heads, a

barrel consisting of a plurality of rollers interposed between theV heads and supported therein with freedom to move toward the circumference thereof, and a casing interposed between the heads and supported thereby with freedom to rotate relatively thereto. f

7. In a strand handling apparatus, a serving head having a rotatable tube, a guide sheave mounted in the tube, a rotatable housing, means to drive the tube and the housing, and a spool removably mounted in the housing and comprising a pair of heads and a barrel consisting of a plurality of rollers interposed between the heads and supported therein with freedom to move toward the circumferences thereof.

8. In a strand handling apparatus, a serving head having a rotatable tube, a guide sheave mounted in the tube, a rotatable housing, means to drive the tube and the housing, and a spool removably mounted in the housing and comprising a pair of heads, a barrel consisting of a plurality of. rollers interposed between the heads and supported therein with freedom to move toward the circumference thereof, and a casing interposed between the heads and supported thereby with freedom to rotate relatively thereto.

`9. In a strand handling apparatus, a serving head having a rotatable housing, means to drive the housing, a spool removably mounted in the housing and comprising a pair of heads and a barrel consisting of a plurality of members interposed between the heads and supported therein with freedom to move toward the circumferences thereof, and means in the housing to maintain the spool heads in relative position.

10. In a strand handling apparatus, a rotating supply spool to contain a supply of strand wound thereon, means to Withdraw a strand from the interior of the supply, and centrifugal means within the supply to impose tension upon the strand being withdrawn.

11. In a strand handling apparatus, a rotating supply spool to contain a supply of strand wound thereon, means to withdraw a strand from the interior of the supply, and centrifugal means within the supply to impose tension upon the strand being withdrawn comprising a plurality of members supported within the spool to revolve therewith and with freedom to move toward the circumference thereof.

l2. In a strand handling apparatus, a rotating supply spool to contain a supply of strand wound thereon, means to withdraw a strand from the interior of the supply, and centrifugal means within the supply to impose tension upon the V strand being withdrawn comprising a plurality of members supported within the spool with freedom to move toward the circumference thereof.

13. In a strand handling apparatus, a rotatable shaft, a spool mounted thereon comprising n a pair of heads and a, plurality of members mounted in the heads with freedom to move toward the circumference thereof, means on the shaft to engage the heads to drive the same and to maintain them in alignment against relative rotation, and means on the shaft to releasably lock the members against radial movement.

YVES A. BOUGET. 

